Last laugh for Hughes gives Charlton reason to hope again

Alan Pardew's bounding, fan-hugging celebration said everything about what Bryan Hughes's late winner on Saturday meant to him, but for the goalscorer the joy was double.

Hughes joined Charlton 30 months ago as a free transfer from Birmingham and Saturday's visitors to The Valley had not forgotten his second-city roots. As if it were not hard enough to have been relegated to the bench for both matches of Pardew's reign in London SE7, the 30-year-old's warm-up jogs had him running a gauntlet of spite from the Villa fans. So as he stooped to head Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's knockback past Gabor Kiraly for an invaluable winner, the schadenfreude multiplied the pleasure of the points.

"It's always nice," he said with a grin that spoke louder than his words. "On the touchline when I was warming up I was getting a bit of stick off their fans. So it was nice to get the winner in the last minute. I wanted to rub the noses of some of the Villa fans into it. I know how much that meant to us today. It was a big, big, important goal and hopefully we can take it on into the next game."

The result does not appreciably alter Charlton's plight just yet, because they remain in the relegation positions, but it has instilled the belief that under Pardew survival is now distinctly possible. And for Hughes there is the inkling that Villa's defeat, which extends the winless run that has plunged them from the third place they occupied in November to 12th in the Premiership, could force them to fear relegation. "Maybe: if we keep picking points up and we start catching teams, obviously they're going to get dragged into it," he said. "If Villa are one of them, it's obviously down to them."

It is a suspicion which Martin O'Neill's players share. Villa's captain, Gareth Barry, their only outstanding player in the two Christmas visits to London which both ended in 2-1 defeat, will be suspended for Chelsea's visit to Villa Park tomorrow after being sent off here.

The dismissal came after he intervened illegally when Dennis Rommedahl bore down on goal but he had already made his mark by winning and converting the penalty which opened the scoring. Yet Villa need to invest in more players of his quality during the transfer window that opens today if they are to match the standards they set early in the season.

"The transfer window is coming so I hope the manager and owner will get some players and we will get better and better," said Stilian Petrov, the £6.5m midfielder who was O'Neill's sole summer acquisition. "The club told me their ambition would be high so I am waiting to see what will happen."

O'Neill acknowledges that his enthusiasm alone is not sufficient to re-energise an ailing team. "We need some players in," said the Villa manager. "The younger lads are having to do too much.

"It will eventually stand them in good stead but we need some players to help them. First I'm looking for players who are capable of sending us up the league for a start and who are capable of doing the job for quite some time. That might not be just as easy as we think but we'll definitely be looking to strengthen."

It would perhaps be disingenuous to suggest, after three matches in eight days and with another in 72 hours, that Villa's work rate was substandard. But had there been more commitment to be first to the ball, the self-doubt that has been palpable in Charlton's performances this season might have returned. Instead, after taking the lead with a penalty, Villa withdrew.

Though Barry collapsed perhaps too easily, the idiocy of Hermann Hreidarsson's double lunge justified Rob Styles's decision to award the spot kick. It is to Charlton's credit that they overcame the setback as twice Aaron Hughes had to clear off the line for Villa. Darren Bent's effort in dropping back into midfield to act as a linkman was a key factor and he earned his reward when he peeled off Olof Mellberg to head in the equaliser from Talal El Karkouri's searching pass.

Barry's departure ensured the initiative would remain with Charlton and Hreidarsson's switch to centre-forward was the embodiment of the bold ambition of Pardew, who said: "I never feel the game is over, and I could sense this stadium, let alone the players, needed a win."